Seals (12 page)

Kara was silent. She hadn’t thought about
that.

“I wish I could say that I’m not linked to
them, but that would be a lie because I
felt
it. So how
would this be bad for the legion exactly? I’m the one who’s going
through this, not them.”

The more she thought carefully about the
connection, the worse she felt. Had she made a mistake in telling
everyone?

Mr. Patterson looked her in the face.

“Because, my dear, if
you
are linked
to it…then it is also
linked
to you.”

Kara felt like the oracle had slapped her.
She bit her bottom lip. “I…I didn’t think about that.”

“Try not to fret, my dear. We’ll make sense
of this, I promise.”

But Kara only felt worse. She wasn’t sure
what she had expected to hear, but that definitely wasn’t part of
it.

“You mean like it could read her mind or
something?” inquired Jenny. “It could find out about the legion’s
secrets and plans. Everything.”

Could Jenny be right
?

Kara shivered at the thought of the knights
rummaging through her mind, discovering her deepest secrets. Not
just the legion’s but her own. Could they sense what she was
planning?

No.

She couldn’t read their minds or sense them
at all, so she was certain that they couldn’t read her mind either.
Whatever link they shared, it wasn’t telepathic.

This conversation was not proceeding as Kara
had planned. Jenny had not tried to anger her. She was just
speaking her mind as she always did.

“I don’t think it can read my mind,” she
said quietly to Jenny.

“Are you sure?” pressed Ashley, before Jenny
could answer. “I mean, how would you know for sure?”

Kara’s gaze shifted to Ashley. “Because I
can’t
read their minds—”

“So they can’t read
her
mind.” David
looked at Kara. “Makes sense.”

“But that’s if it works that way,” said
Ashley. “How can we know for sure? We can’t, can we? Are we willing
to take that chance? Kara…are you?”

Even though she didn’t want to admit it,
Kara knew that Ashley was right.

“Of course not. But what am I supposed to
do? I still don’t think they can read my mind. And if you
are
right, you still don’t have much to worry about since
the legion’s never shared any secrets with me.”

She couldn’t help sounding bitter. “I don’t
know anything about any plans. There’s not much in my head that can
harm anyone, really. Just stupid stuff.”

“Even so,” began Mr. Patterson. “It would be
wise if you didn’t go back to Horizon. At least not until I speak
with the oracle mothers. I believe it would be best for
everyone.”

Kara was taken aback.

Was that an order? She couldn’t go back
to Horizon? Was he afraid that she would infect the legion with her
disease
? Horizon was her home. She hadn’t realized how much she
cared about it until he suggested that she stay away. Even if it
was just temporary…

The oracle was only trying to help her by
telling her the truth. And she needed the truth. Besides, she
needed to be here on Earth for her plan to work, and right now she
needed to stick to her plan.

“Okay, I get it. I won’t take any more risks
with the legion. I’ll stay here for as long as I can.”

“I know this is difficult to hear, but it’s
for the best.” Mr. Patterson brushed his crystal with his sleeve
and then looked up at Kara, “And it won’t be forever.

“I believe we went a little off track. So,
what of your theory for a cure? What is it you think you know?”

At the mention of her theory, Kara’s
miserable thoughts about Horizon vanished.

“Like I said, it’s just a theory…but I think
it’s going to work.”

“Go on.”

Kara was excited to continue.

“We know the archfiends are responsible for
my changes. We still don’t know why exactly, but we all know it’s
them. We also know that the archfiends created the knights. I think
that I have some of whatever they used to create the knights in me.
That would explain the bond I have with them. When I saw the wound
on my arm after I stabbed the knight, I just knew. It became clear
to me.”

“What did?” David said.

“That I could kill it.”

“But Kara—”

“The only way to get rid of my curse,” Kara
shuffled her wings, “is by getting rid of the archfiends.”

She felt excited.

“It’s a win-win for everyone. We destroy the
knights, keep them from breaking the seals—the archfiends will go
back to their cage and take their virus with them. The worlds will
be saved, and I’ll be back to normal again. I know it’s going to
work.”

David and the others looked uneasy.

“What?” said Kara a little annoyed that they
didn’t jump for joy at her master plan. “Don’t you want me to get
better? Don’t you want me to be normal again?”

“That’s not it, Kara.” David’s eyes were
filled with worry.

“Then what?”

“You said that when you cut the knight, it
affected you too,” said David.

“Yes. And?”

Kara concealed the flutter of irritation
that surged through her. She wasn’t sure if it was the darkness
inside her, but her anger seemed to find her awfully quickly since
her transformation. She had to fight to control it.

David tilted his head to the side.

“Doesn’t that mean you might be at risk of
killing yourself, if you kill any of the knights?”

“Yes,” said Kara.

She saw that they all looked anxious. “And
it’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“It’s not a risk
I’m
willing to
take.” David’s expression toughened. “I won’t risk your life.”

“You don’t have a choice.” Kara’s voice
sounded harsher than she had intended.

“Look,” she said softly as she recovered a
little, “It’s already in motion. The fate of the worlds depends on
us. We need to succeed. I know what you’re all thinking, and I’ve
already thought it through long and hard. Yes, I might die…and I
might
not
.”

David clenched his jaw.

“I don’t like this, Kara. It seems that
every time something goes wrong…
you
always end up getting
hit with the worst of it. It just doesn’t seem fair. I just wish
that I could take some of that burden, just this once, so you
didn’t have to.”

The room went still.

Kara felt a cramp in her chest at David’s
concern for her. She wasn’t embarrassed at his sudden revelation.
She admired him and adored him all the more for it. If they had
been alone, she would have kissed him hard and never let him go.
But they weren’t.

“I know, and truly I understand, believe me
I do,” she said. “I wish things could be different, but they’re
not. And I just have to accept them. I don’t want to die my true
death either, but I know within my soul that this is the right
move. We’ll finish what we started and move forward. Nothing’s
changed, well not that much. At least now we know that the knights
can be killed.”

“What makes you so sure?” inquired Peter.
“You only stabbed it, and from what you just told us it wasn’t a
deadly cut. You said it yourself. You just injured it.”

“Call it a hunch,” said Kara. “If we can
injure them, we can kill them.”

“I have to agree with Kara, although it
pains me to say it,” said Jenny. “It’s a relief, but also
terrifying all at the same time,” she continued softly.

Kara felt a lump in her throat.

“I’ll be fine. Trust me. We’ll hit these
knights with whatever it takes. Don’t hold back. You must promise
me that.”

She moved around them, watching their
eyes.

“Promise me that you won’t hold back, for my
sake. Whatever it takes. Promise me.”

Silence.

“Guys,” pressed Kara. “I need you with me on
this. I need your help, your skills as guardians. We’re the best
team in the legion—together. You know how important this is. It’s
more important than me. It’s more important than all of us. It’s
the most important job we’ll ever do. You must accept it, just as I
accepted it.”

“Fine, whatever it takes.” David said a
little reluctantly.

The others all agreed slowly, and Kara’s
excitement returned. They would destroy the knights, and she would
be free.

Mr. Patterson paced. “Have you told anyone
else about this?”

He turned to face Kara.

“No,” she shook her head. “This is the first
time I’ve spoken of it.”

She wanted to add the fact that someone else
had
seen
her markings, but she wasn’t sure how to bring it
up without putting the oracle in a state by revealing too much
about her discussion with Metatron.

“Did anyone else see the marks on your face
and hands when you were in Horizon?” asked the oracle. He might
just as well have been reading her mind.

“Metatron saw me.”

Mr. Patterson’s fluffy white brows furrowed.
“Why does that not surprise me?”

He turned away from her for a moment, as
though trying to control himself.

He turned his attention back to Kara, his
face contorted in rage. She had never seen him so angry.

“Did you speak to him?”

“Yes.”

“What did he tell you?”

After sighing loudly, Kara recounted the
events that had occurred between her and the archangel. He had seen
the marks and her wings. She had told him about the attack on the
archfiends and she almost tipped him off about their plans. She
told Mr. Patterson everything except the part about the deal. No
one needed to know about that.

“I apologize for not mentioning that this
mission was not an
official
one,” began the oracle.

He turned the crystal orb in his hand
anxiously.

“I was afraid that you all might not want to
take it. And that was a not chance that the oracle mothers and I
were willing to take. There is too much at stake, and we had to
bend the rules a little.”

“Don’t worry about it, Mr. P,” said Jenny
grinning. “We love anything
unofficial
.”

David smiled. “Yeah, we would have agreed to
it anyway. All of us.”

“Yeah,” agreed Ashley and Peter in
unison.

The oracle beamed at their confidence in
him.

“It’s fine,” said Kara, “but I almost gave
us away. In fact, I’m pretty sure Metatron will figure it out
sooner or later. He was
really
angry.”

“Yes,” said Mr. Patterson, a mischievous
smiled played on his lips. “I bet he was.”

Kara shared a sidelong glance with
David.

“Did something happen between you and
Metatron?” asked Kara.

The idea that the oracle might derive some
pleasure out of angering the archangel was too sweet to pass. She
wanted to know a little more about the newly appointed commander.
Maybe she could learn something that she could use against him to
trade with if he ever tried to make a deal with her again.

Mr. Patterson dismissed her with a wave of
his hand.

“That is a story for another day. And don’t
worry about Metatron. I’ll deal with him when the time comes. Now,
you best hurry. We don’t have much time left to stop the knights.
It’s our only chance.”

“Where do we begin our search?” asked Peter,
although his voice was void of enthusiasm.

“Boston,” answered David. Kara raised her
brows in surprise.

“I was talking with the archangel Raphael,
and she hinted to me that a whole plague of diseases originated in
Boston.”

“Well, it’s a start,” said Kara.

She wondered if the archangel had intended
to reveal so much to David.
Did the archangel know of their
secret mission?
Her angel intuition told her that this wasn’t a
coincidence. Raphael knew where one of the knights was, and she had
just told David where to look.

“It sounds like this could be the handiwork
of the knight called Pestilence, right?”

Mr. Patterson gave her a small nod of his
head. “If Raphael mentioned it to David, then it’s definitely worth
a look.”

As they took their leave, Kara couldn’t help
but notice the nervous glances everyone kept giving her as they
stepped onto the street.
Did they think she couldn’t see
them
?

The news of Kara’s link to the knights had
put a damper on the excitement they would normally have felt at
going on a secret mission. The quest was different this time. It
was complicated.

Mr. Patterson stood sadly at his front door
and watched them leave. Her friends’ long faces caused a wrench in
her chest, but there was no room for gloom or regret now.

Kara felt excited and determined. Her mind
was active, and she whispered the same word to herself over and
over again.

Normal
.

Chapter 10

K
ara and the others
were silent as they walked along Fruit Street and made their way
toward the Boston, Massachusetts General Hospital.

Kara took comfort from the thought that the
archangel Raphael might be on their side, but it wasn’t enough. The
knowledge that the legion had ordered a strike for tomorrow left
the team sullen and on edge. They all had friends in the legion who
wouldn’t survive, no matter how many legions of angels and
archangels fought, or how resilient they thought they were. It
didn’t matter how many demon legions fought with them. The
archfiends were stronger.

Kara had caught a glimpse of a local
newspaper as they strolled down the street. Crops and livestock all
over the world had suddenly dried up, rotted, and withered away.
The mortals were blaming global warming and a short winter. But
there was no scientific explanation for the millions of
carcasses.

The angels knew better. This was only the
beginning.

Kara’s icy cold fear that she would die if
she killed one of the knights never left her. She had told everyone
that she accepted her fate, no matter what. She had a reputation to
uphold. But deep down, Kara was terrified.